The 'Peculiar' Disappearance of Iraq Coverage

[sabra]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002914836

The 'Peculiar' Disappearance of Iraq Coverage

NEW YORK In his Sunday op-ed column for The New York Times, Frank Rich laments what the headline calls "The Peculiar Disappearance of the War in Iraq." He means in the media -- but singles out TV, not newspapers.

Rich sets it up recalling a joke. Back in the Vietnam era, comedian Milton Berle said that the fastest way to end the war would be to put it on the then-struggling network, ABC, where it was certain to be canceled. "Berle’s gallows humor lives on in the quagmire in Iraq," Rich declares. "Americans want this war canceled too, and first- and last-place networks alike are more than happy to oblige.

"CNN will surely remind us today that it is Day 19 of the Israel-Hezbollah war — now branded as Crisis in the Middle East — but you won’t catch anyone saying it’s Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq. On the Big Three networks’ evening newscasts, the time devoted to Iraq has fallen 60 percent between 2003 and this spring, as clocked by the television monitor, the Tyndall Report. On Thursday, Brian Williams of NBC read aloud a 'shame on you' e-mail complaint from the parents of two military sons anguished that his broadcast had so little news about the war.

...

"The steady falloff in Iraq coverage isn’t happenstance. It’s a barometer of the scope of the tragedy. For reporters, the already apocalyptic security situation in Baghdad keeps getting worse, simply making the war more difficult to cover than ever. The audience has its own phobia: Iraq is a bummer.... They know defeat when they see it, no matter how many new plans for victory are trotted out to obscure that reality.

[leftchick]

1. "Iraq is a bummer"?!

what an understatement!

[PA Democrat]

2. Convenient for the Bush administration, isn't it?

And in the meantime, with all hell breaking loose, the Pentagon is sending in more troops. I heard there are 100 + civilian deaths a day due to sectarian violence, but it seems that no one is paying attention anymore.

[countmyvote4real]

6. Increased troops are diversionary targets.

Who would Sunni/Shia rather kill first - Shia/Sunni or American occupiers?

We really need to get the hell out of Iraq, but the Saudi’s don’t want Iraq’s oil to flow and drive down prices. The Saudi sycophant chimp, our very own “dear leader,” can’t say no to the only money train he’s ever known.

And yes, there is this whole media diversion, but that's been going on since the stupid impeachment of Clinton. And for once, we can blame Clinton:
1) He signed the deregulation of telecommunications.
2) He assumed that he had a private life while he was POTUS and the neo-cons most hated man ever.

[knowbody0]

3. 24/7 coverage of the "crisis in ME"

video of dead, wounded, children, women, mass graves, chaos in the ERs, interviews with civilians, generals, soldiers. updates on # of missiles fired, where they were manufactured and on and on.

in two weeks over 500 deaths.

in Iraq, 6,000 deaths in the last two months. definitely filtered approved information only.

to watch the Israel/Lebanon conflict and the diabolical horrors of bombs and missiles in just two weeks vs 3 years - there just are no words

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. Rich should have stated the obvious!

Cable news and broadcast news outlets have become nothing but propaganda delivery vehicles for the BushCo empire. Some outlets are over the top and completely obvious such as Fox news and the others are more subtle in presenting the news to favor the Bush regime. The recent disappearance of lengthy nightly news stories is no accident. Things have gotten so bad in Iraq that the only way to play it in BushCo's favor now is to read off a 5 second tally of the dead each night. Our soldiers will come home someday and many tens of thousands will carry the horrible physical amd mental scars of war. Mark my words, the bastards that started this horrific nightmare will turn their backs on the soldiers guaranteed. El Drugbo Limbaugh will lead the parade no doubt when the savaging of the Veterans begins. He will inevitably disparage any initiative to help them in any way as a "Liberal" tax and spend program.

Another poster is correct, there are no words to accurately describe the evil.

[Solly Mack]

5. It's the "we're losing" so let's pretend it's not happening thinking

and then let's forget the people dying and then let's ignore the troops coming home maimed and in need of help.

Let's move on and forget the bad. That way we can maintain the illusion that America is great and powerful and all is well.

What makes a war an "unpopular war" is different for different people

1 - A war based on lies that continues to be propped up by lies is unpopular for obvious reasons.

2 - those who like any war America is winning - however, once the losing becomes so obvious, even those blinded by the flag they wrap themselves in can see it, then it's unpopular because losing is such a bummer. Those people want to forget it. They need to forget it. Otherwise, they'd have to wake up to a few truths.

And the government falls into category 2. They want the people to forget. For obvious reasons.